The Senate on Wednesday moved to strike down a Biden administration decision that restricted oil drilling in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to join Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Republicans in advancing S.J. Res. 80, which would overturn a 2022 decision protecting millions of Alaska acres from oil and gas development. The vote to proceed was 54-46.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sullivan reiterated his contention that the Biden administration wrongly attacked his state with 70 executive actions targeting resource development, hurting jobs and life expectancy — all in the name of helping Alaska Native people.
“That was a bald-faced lie,” he said, arguing the Biden administration was in fact canceling Native voices that support development.
